


Bonding for Dummies: How to Manage When Your Life is in the Hands of Others

by A_Galeb_Duhr_named_Squish



Series: Between Gunfire [3]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:02:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25256593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Galeb_Duhr_named_Squish/pseuds/A_Galeb_Duhr_named_Squish
Summary: Moze begins to discover some things. Bonds tightened on Athenas. Coming clean over drinks.
Series: Between Gunfire [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1519385
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	Bonding for Dummies: How to Manage When Your Life is in the Hands of Others

**Author's Note:**

> Part 3 of Between Gunfire. Spoilers for the following missions/sidequests:
> 
> The Impending Storm
> 
> Also, a quick note.  
> This one... isn't my best work. I've recently decided to pick this series up again, and I've grown a lot as a writer, so I just wanted to get this part out there already so I can make something more of it with what I've learned. With that in mind, my significantly less skilled self put a lot of heart into this. Feel like I should do them this one last favor, since they did so much to get me here.
> 
> Enjoy.

Thanks to some reluctant help from the Atlas CEO, Rhys, the group had found the location of a Vault Key fragment; the first of three, by Tannis’ reckoning. It was hidden away on Athenas, an idyllic planet in a remote part of the galaxy, mostly untouched by corporate influence. At least, that’s how the brochures sold it. In reality, it was facing fire from more Maliwan troops, who had also discovered the existence of the fragment. In preparation, Moze saw to installing some railgun tech onto Iron Bear, in the hopes of being able to bust the shields of foes open.

Embarrassingly, she also found her stature… insufficient in height. The servo that the canons would have locked into were a little higher than she was tall, and so she’d enlisted the help of Amara to get the job done.

“So this bit… goes where?”

Moze pushed herself onto her toes to see which of the myriad parts the siren was referencing. “That should just slot into this little port here.” She vaguely pointed at a shallow recess in Iron Bear’s shoulder. “Yeah, just… like that. Nice.”

A flat clicking sound let the two know that the job was done; the weapon was mounted properly, and ready to be used. Amara gently pulled her hands away from the railgun, slowly, just in case the thing decided to unlatch itself and drop to the floor.

“Thanks for the help, really appreciate it.” Moze said, giving Amara a firm slap on the back.

“Does this mean I can add ‘mech engineer’ to my resume?” She jested in turn.

Moze laughed. A sensation she wasn’t entirely used to, all things considered. Altogether pleasant, though. Amara’s presence was a soothing thing, in a strange, familiar way, but she tried not to think about it too much. She enjoyed the company, and didn’t want to sour it with abstract contemplation.

“I mean, you’re famous, so I don’t think anyone would say you’re lying.”

“That’s… not quite how it works.”

“What’s it like?” Moze asked.

“Being famous?”

She nodded.

“It’s… awesome. Back on Partali, I had everyone’s love. It felt good. I could go where I wanted, and do pretty much anything.” Amara’s face was one of reminiscence.

“So… why’d you leave?”

Amara sighed deeply. “Every time I’ve tried to explain it, I’ve been looked at like I’m a fool or a freak.” Her eyes met Moze’ for a brief time. “I just… feel drawn to Pandora. Like something’s happening there that I need to be present for. It’s like an invitation for something important.”

Moze nodded in understanding. Well, not quite. She didn’t understand, but it clearly meant something to Amara, and if she trusted Moze enough to share, there was no way she’d do anything to diminish that trust. It had been a long time since she had a friend, besides.

“Amara, do you… wanna grab a drink while we wait for the jump?”

Soon, Moze felt the crushing weight of accompanying not just one overtly, unprecedentedly powerful siren, but two overtly, unprecedentedly powerful sirens. Between the already familiar Amara, and the completely new and intimidating Maya, Moze felt like she was tailing two nuclear devices, each as devastatingly potent as the other. It caused no small amount of discomfort, but it was appreciatively diminished from inside the cosy chassis of Iron Bear.

The four had come a long way in their synergy; from being a ramshackle group, unorganised and sporadic in combat on their first meeting on Pandora, to Promethea testing the limits of their tactics and teamwork, and it seemed that Athenas’ monastery was a suitable battleground to prove the worth of their more finely developed strategies. Given the inherent durability of Iron Bear’s hide, Moze was often the first one to rush headlong into the fray, followed by Fl4k’s beastly companion. Once disorder was sewn, Amara and Zane went to work on stragglers, of whom the latter favored extending behind the lines of enemies. Fl4k was cloaked more often than not, obfuscating to some previously unconsidered vantage point with a high-powered Jakobs rifle at the ready, taking shots at any Maliwan troop that strayed too far from the fight, or decided to sneak up on any of the others while their attention was diverted.

Given that Maya was a new addition, it surprised Moze that she fell into her own role rather well, picking out and restraining targets, or yanking them out from behind cover. She later considered that given Maya was previously a Vault Hunter, and a part of the group who had killed Handsome Jack, it made complete sense that she’d be more experienced than the four new hunters combined. She was a certifiable legend.

Their efforts bore fruit, and soon the bulk of the Maliwan assault was repelled, spurred to flee with the death of one Captain Traunt, the one leading the attack on Maya’s monastery for the time. After cleaning up the loose soldiers of Traunt’s retinue, the group were allowed to procure the first Vault Key fragment from inside a building that Maya had called the ‘Anchorhold’. The fragment itself was different to the Vault Map that they had lost to the Calypsos, mere days ago. The piece hinted at a cylindrical suggestion for the whole Key, but there was a rounded point that didn’t look like a crack in the design, like it was intended. Carved in, smoothed.

Zane whistled. “Well… isn’t the first time I’ve handled freaky alien stuff. But this…”

“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” Amara crouched down over the container housing the fragment, running a hand over the rough-hewn, stone-like material. “How old could this be?”

Fl4k spoke, their luminescent eye narrowing. “Thousands of years. More, perhaps. It doesn’t matter now.”

Amara looked up at Maya, who was standing off on the side of the group, smiling faintly at the fragment. “Maya… what’ll be waiting for us at the Vault?”

“The one that Key opens? I dunno. Definitely a monster of some kind; that seems to be the one constant.” Her smile grew. “It’ll be a big one, too.”

The Tiger stood back up to her full height, and addressed the other three. “Is anyone having second thoughts?”

Fl4k shook their head, arms crossed.

“In for a penny…” Zane mulled.

Moze rubbed at her jaw as she gazed down at the fragment. It had been about survival, up until now. Earning money to live after leaving Vladof with nothing. Repairs for Iron Bear after the slaughter of Darzaran Bay. But now, after being swept up in all this Calypso business? She was a soldier. She’d never had a chance to be a hero before.

“Let’s hunt us a Vault.”

Once the Key was delivered to the Crimson Raider’s Eridian expert, Patricia Tannis, the group chose to celebrate the acquisition over drinks, as befitting their wants. As such, they sent themselves to Moxxi’s bar, and nested into a booth seat in the most secluded reach of the place.

Amara was the first to raise a glass. “I just wanted to say… I underestimated you three. What we did today? People on Athenas will be talking about that for years!”

Zane clinked his own tumbler against the siren’s. “Aye, that was the loudest thing I’ve ever done on that planet! You folks are a riot, I love yas.”

“And we’re one step closer to opening a Vault.” Amara continued, bending her leg to put a boot on the edge of the table. “We’re going to be rich; wouldn’t that be nice?”

“As if you weren’t rich enough already, Tiger.” Moze jeered. “I’m interested in new hardware, though.”

The siren turned to Zane. “Have any of your many past jobs led to you opening a Vault?”

“Ah, no. That’s the one thing I’ve never done.” He wagged a finger towards nobody in particular.

“Good way to end your working years.”

The hitman laughed. “Aye, it does seem that way.”

Amara took a sip from her drink as she pondered a moment. Moze didn’t have to wonder what she was thinking about for long, because she spoke, the consideration evident in her voice.

“So. Zane’s here to go out with a bang, I’m here to follow some weird ‘siren’s call’ thing, you’re…” She looked over to Fl4k, who was currently pouring the contents of a glass into their skag’s mouth. “…Sort of just here to kill things.” Moze’ heart skipped a beat when Amara let her eyes settle onto the mechanic. “It occurs to me that I only have a vague idea of why you ended up on that bus. You said that you left Vladof because it didn’t pay well enough?”

Moze felt Zane’s eyes on her too, in less of a curious way, and more with the kind of gaze that asked, ‘are you going to lie, and do I need to cover for you?’.

She elected to tell the truth, this time. She trusted Amara and Fl4k to watch her flank in battle; why shouldn’t she be able to trust them with a dying memory? “Sort of. It wasn’t really an official thing. The short of it is that I was the only survivor out of a whole battalion. On the supposed ‘last mission’ of my contract under Vladof. I didn’t go back once the dust settled.”

“So what’s the long of it?” Fl4k’s voice buzzed.

Moze looked down, frowning. She thought she was past the feeling. “Didn’t feel good being sent to certain death. Didn’t wanna feel it again by going back. I had solitude, and Iron Bear at my back. That’s all I ever wanted, from the beginning.” She took a drink to settle her nerves before that creeping, woefully familiar feeling of being lost took her again. “Seemed like a way out, so I took it.”

Amara nodded grimly. “Damn.”

“I’ll admit, coming to Pandora might have been an… emotionally charged decision. Nothing left to lose and all that. But…” Moze let her own eyes scour over the three other Vault Hunters around her. Zane, with his white mane and warm smile. Amara, casual, yet barely containing her own strength. Fl4k’s frame hidden beneath a coat, and their pet skag. “Lookin’ at you? Best choice I ever made.”

Zane almost leapt from his seat, raising his drink to the air. “Aye! To emotionally charged decisions, wherever they’ll lead us!”

It seemed remiss to not join the toast. Fl4k and Amara followed suit, and the sharp din of glass meeting glass rang out between them all.

The sensation was strange, but unmistakably positive. This camaraderie… no squadron, or platoon, or battalion in Vladof had ever given this to her. It had been barely a week, and yet she’d slogged through battles on three separate planets with these three, killed and almost been killed. If that wasn’t cause enough for a strong bond, what the hell else was?

After finishing a deep swig, Zane turned his grin to Moze once more. “So. Now that we’re all buddy-buddy… any chance I can get a ride in that big steel teddy bear?”

She snorted in reply, nudging Zane with an elbow. “On the outside, maybe. I worked hard for him, never mind how close you think you and I are.”

Zane raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.

“Come on, you didn’t really think I’d-”

“No…” Fl4k’s voice carried across the table, and Moze fixed their gaze. Beside the bot, Amara looked at her quizzically as well. “You said ‘him’.”

Moze shook her head. “Oh, no, that’s just-”

“Is he like me?” Fl4k narrowed their eye and leaned forward, placing a steel hand on the edge of the table. “Awakened?”

“No! No, I just…” She sighed, scratching at her temple with a finger. “It’s just an attachment thing. I guess. Force of habit; we all did it. Back in…” She looked back up at Fl4k, who, despite any typical facial features, looked dejected. “…you know. Sorry.”

The bot leaned back in their seat, folding their arms once again. “…It’s fine.”

A disconcerting silence came over the group, and Moze soon recognised the creeping feeling that she’d messed up. How lonely it must be, she thought, to be the only one like them.

_Maybe that’s why they keep that skag with them._

In a way, Moze felt a kinship to Fl4k. Both had a singular task, both had learned better, and both had adopted a companion to survive. Perhaps it was for that reason that she couldn’t bring herself to close whatever invisible gap there was between them; she knew where Fl4k was, in a psychological regard. At least somewhat. She also knew that she herself still had yet to move on from that bloodied, lonely past. Amara and Zane, they helped, but could only do so much.

It had to be enough at that time, as the intercom crackled in a familiar fashion, and the voice of Lilith once more summoned the four to the bridge.

**Author's Note:**

> More soon. <3


End file.
